Modern
Yemen has witnessed previous revolutions and coups, but the revolution
of 2011 had the unique aspect of being a youth led mass movement [at
least at the beginning] with participation from people of various
backgrounds, transcending the elite circle of politics. A common
question arises: what role do the “youth” who ignited the mass protest
movement play today in the transitional process?While youth played a significant role in the revolution, they were
sidelined in the political negotiations that led to the signing of the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) transition plan and there are indicators
today that show their potential marginalization in the upcoming national
dialogue process.A key indicator for change in the political structure of the country
is the level of political inclusion that transcends the traditional
small inner circle. Hence, this paper attempts to review the level of
“youth” inclusion, by first defining the “independent youth”, and
focusing on their past, current and potential role in the transitional
process.Full paper found here.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Yesterday, a large crowd of students and activists met at the gate of Sanaa University then marched to the prime minister's office near the cabinet to protest the continued militarization of the campus.

Sign in front of the university reads: for the thousand times: No to military and security control over Sanaa university, No to militarizing our dreams

The protest was organized by Sanaa university students to demand an end to the presence of the military in the education facility. Soldiers control the entrances of Sanaa university and
frequently check the bags of students as they enter their space of
learning. State security also keeps track of "political" students and has arrested and beaten students in the past. Students complain that the campus is full of tanks and guns, and want them to be replaced by pens and notebooks as a step towards a city free of military compounds. These demands were expressed in this video by the group "Sanaa University Students' Revolution" advocating others to join the protest.

Upon arrival at the prime minister's office, protesters began moving closer to the gate and as chants became louder and louder the soldiers protecting the government institution fired their guns in the air to intimidate and disperse protesters. The shooting continued for about 15 minutes and soldiers pushed protesters and beat them with metal batons as Sarah Jamal explained in her blog post.

As people began to run away from the soldiers, I hid with three female university students in a small alley. It was their first protest and they were terrified. As my heart was pumping faster and faster, I tried to comfort them and told them that everything will be ok. Then the soldiers came and shot in the air yelling at us to leave. We did as we were told.

Although
this protest was nearly not as bad as previous protests, it was quite
sad to see that two years later, soldiers still resort to their guns as
the first means of attempting to disperse peaceful protesters.

As I was running to join the crowd at the end of the street, a taxi on 26 September street stopped, and the window rolled down. A women in the car asked me: "why are they shooting?" I explained that this was intended as a peaceful demonstration but the soldiers decided to use their guns anyways. She looked at me and said: "What are you doing here? this job is for men, not for you. Men enjoy these things, let them do it!"I stood there thinking, this is really not the time to have this conversation, should I tell her that men don't really wake up in the morning thinking oh i would love to die in a protest today.. or should I tell her that women have been protesting for years alongside their male counterparts?

Instead, as my mind was worried about my sister and friends, I told her: "We, men and women, are in this together, we should struggle together". With a friendly smile she responded: "I should take you home, get in", I smiled back and said: "thank you for your concern, but I really do have to look for my sister and friends." I waved goodbye and headed back to the crowd.

Female protester and activist Samia al-Aghbari chanting during the protest

Each protest is filled with different layers of hopes, dreams, and calls for equality under the banner of demands for a civil state.

Yesterday's protest was not all bad, the mood of this day reminded me of the good old days in the first months of the revolution when independent students went out to protest direct needs such as employment, end to corruption, and better education and healthcare. Despite the terrifying sounds of gun shot and the beatings, the feeling was mixed with a joyous reunion of independents reminding all of us that the revolution will not end and that the martyrs will not be forgotten.

Students
holding their books and notebooks chanted: "in the name of the pen, in
the name of the book, our university is not a military compound"

Friday, December 21, 2012

Last week in Cairo, an Egyptian organization held a conference entitled "Women's Empowerment" tackling a variety of topics including corruption, trafficking, gender based violence, gender wage gaps, and sexual violence. The case studies and speakers focused mostly on Western countries and the problems women face there, highlighting Christianity as the impediment to gender equality. The surprising aspect of this conference is that none of the similar violations in the Middle East or Muslim countries were discussed. This shocked one of the attendees who said that these issues are not strictly "Western" they are found all over the globe.

Indeed they are.

Now, I ask you to look at the previous paragraph and substitute the word "Egyptian" with "International", the word "Western" with "Arab or Muslim" and "Christianity" with "Islam". Would you still be shocked by such a conference? Majority of people would not, because that kind of tone has become the norm today. [The first conference I mention above in Cairo did not really take place, I was just flipping the situation around to make a point].I'm not against addressing religious or cultural barriers to gender equality, I think it is necessary, I merely find it counter-productive when the focus is mainly on these aspects because people become reactionary and do not engage honestly in such discussions. It also voids the discussion from important political/economic/class dimensions of the struggle.

Since the start of the Yemeni uprising many activists have been invited to a number of conferences to discuss the revolution, women's rights or the Arab spring. Many have taken this as an opportunity to highlight issues often neglected in main stream media, and to correct some of the misunderstandings. Lately however, some international conferences on women's rights made these female activists feel uncomfortable during the discussions, as the focus was on "saving" women in Arab or Muslim majority countries, as if they are the only women suffering from gender inequality.

Activists are not denying that there are a number of obstacles facing women in many of the Arab countries, but that does not mean that women in other places do not have to struggle as well.

The way women's situation is sometimes discussed today is reminiscent of colonial rhetoric about "saving" women from oppression and the need to "educate" these women (with the superiority it implies). While in the past it was based on religious superiority, today it's from a secular perspective but with similar undertones.

In many international conferences, photographs of Muslim women are often the icon for oppression and the focus is on religious interpretations and cultural traditions only, without a look into the history of oppressive regimes that have long neglected gender equality.

Too often conferences only highlight cultural and religious reasons for women's oppression forgetting to also indulge in discussion on history and political developments. As Professor Lila Abu-Lughod wrote "the question is why knowing about the "culture" of the region, and particularly its religious beliefs and treatment of women, was more urgent than exploring the history of the development of repressive regimes in the region."

This unfortunately turns the discussion into a polarized East v. West, rather than a worldwide struggle for women. I am not someone who believes in the dichotomy between "East" and "West" because I believe in the human spirit, in the fact that we all share common beliefs, goals and aspirations clothed in different cultural traditions. I do not like when things are reduced to such measures, and I find it to be counterproductive as many people respond with reactionary views simply to hide their wounded pride.

When conducting such events, organizers should pay attention to the tone of the discussion and it is imperative for women leaders around the world to emphasize Solidarity - as some international groups already do - through partnerships and exchange of ideas, stories of struggles and lessons learned from all over the globe.

Monday, December 17, 2012

On December 17, 2009 a US Tomahawk missile hit the town of Majala in Abyan governorate in South Yemen, killing 40 civilians including 14 women and 21 children. The Yemeni government was aware of this, and then President Saleh even covered up the story by saying: "We'll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours".

Some of the civilian casualties, photos courtesy of
the People's Movement for Protecting Liberties and Human Rights

These innocent civilians were victims of the secret war. There
are several legal, moral, and philosophical questions that arise from this war, and even questions about security interests. Attacks like this fuel resentment and increase recruitment of militants.

Abdulilah Haidar Shaye a Yemeni journalist uncovered the al-Majala attack,
and frequently wrote about the War on Terror. Then in August 2010 he was arrested and has been in jail since. The Yemen Times reported that: "then President, Ali Abdullah Saleh was prepared to release Shaye in
February 2011, but a personal call from U.S. President Barack Obama
reportedly influenced Saleh, and Shaye remains in prison today, serving a
five year sentence."

The Yemeni government must remember that the revolution broke down the barriers of fear, and that people will no longer be silenced and will no longer be afraid to say, Enough is Enough.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

First published in Open DemocracyThree months before the start of the revolution, Southern
Movement activist Zahra
Salih, was arrested in the city of Aden on 8 November 2010 and held
incommunicado for months without access to a lawyer. Zahra told Amnesty International that, “prior to her release, she
was ordered to sign a declaration pledging to cease her activities in the
Southern Movement and to get married, which she refused to do.”

Zahra was an anomaly in a society where street and public
activism was male dominated. Yet, the Yemeni revolution in January 2011 changed
that perception as thousands of single and married women went out to the
street. The visibility of these women
in the public arena became an iconic symbol of women’s empowerment. In
comparison to other Arab spring states, the sheer number of Yemeni women in the
streets for a period of 12 months became a point of pride for Yemeni citizens.These women came from various backgrounds. It was not just women from elite educated
urban circles. On the contrary, it was women from urban and
rural areas, educated and illiterate, rich and poor who came together in
solidarity with the Yemeni men to call for freedom. The squares of change became the epicentre of networking,
learning and awareness raising.

Women in the public sphere Women participated by being in the front lines, volunteering
at the various committees in the squares, nursing the wounded, making food for
the revolutionaries, documenting the uprising, and by encouraging their family
members to hold steadfast. Many mothers camped in Change Square with their husbands,
and children. The gathering of the
family in this public arena, day and night, was a transformation for some who
are not accustomed to mixing in public as this cartoon illustration by Kamal
Sharaf shows.

Man: “God help us, I hope no one we know see us.” Mouse: “see how wide the street is, this is how much I love you"

During the beginning of the revolution this mixing was
common (with time this changed). In
fact many fathers, brothers, and husbands encouraged their female relatives to
participate. Some female medical volunteers and other protesters even slept in
the squares without their male guardians, challenging cultural taboos. In a society where women’s portraits are not commonly seen
on large billboards, Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkul
Karman’s photo has spread throughout the squares and men proudly
hung her photo in their tents.

By being openly active in the streets, women leaders uttered
their names publicly, and became figures on their own merit - not necessarily through family
lineage. Their male relatives proudly
accepted this, despite the fact that it is customary for some traditional men
in Yemen not
to reveal the names of their female relatives, and instead refer to
them as “the family”.

Shayma al-Ahdal, contributed to the facebook group the
uprising of women in the Arab world with a photo of herself and
the words: “my name is Shaymaa al-Ahadal and I am with the uprising of women in
the Arab world... my brother is too embarrassed to declare my name and my
mother’s name”. The facebook group
received a significant number of
contributions from Yemeni women stating their own personal demands. Many focused on health reform because of the
extremely high maternal mortality rate, the gender gap in literacy rates, the
low number of political participation (only one woman in parliament), and
social norms.

Articulating gender-specific demands was not a top priority
for many female revolutionaries in 2011 who placed them in the broader
framework of revolutionary discourse of equality and justice. Even after women were beaten by Islamist
hardliners in the square, and even
after a gender-segregation policy began by building a dividing wall
in the square after months of mixing,
the discourse remained in the broader framework of equal citizenship. Authors of the “Strong
voice” report noted that the Charter
of the peaceful Youth Revolution - which was the document formulated
by the independent youth with the objectives and an action plan for the future
– “contained none of the specific demands that women had called for”, and expressed women’s rights under the umbrella
of equal citizenship.

Transitional period Articulating women-specific demands began more clearly with
the transitional period, as women felt neglected after the reduced reliance on
their participation in the political process, and the lack of inclusion in the
closed-door meetings. In addition, women have not felt any direct changes in
their daily life particularly in the security sector. The last year witnessed a
large number of internally displaced people, and a number of armed conflicts
which had a severe negative impact on women. The majority of women
interviewed by Oxfam in a recent report entitled “Still Waiting
for Change in Yemen” said that despite the handover of power, there
has been deterioration in their lives in the areas of access to food, jobs and
improved security.

This handover began one year ago, when former president Ali
Abdullah Saleh signed the Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) power
transfer deal after months of negotiations. The
deal involved the transfer of power to Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi, who was his vice
president for 18 years, in return for immunity from prosecution. A national
unity government has since been created for a two-year period, evenly divided
between the traditional opposition, the Joint Meeting Party (JMP) and the
former ruling party the General people’s Congress (GPC). Phase two of this transitional period is now
under way and preparations for the national dialogue are taking place followed
by the constitutional reform process.

Women’s political participation in these processes is seen
as a top priority for educated women in urban areas. While the United Nations
Security Council Resolution 2014 calls “upon all concerned parties
to ensure the protection of women and children, to improve women’s
participation in conflict resolution and encourages all parties to facilitate
the equal and full participation of women at decision-making levels”, and while
the GCC emphasizes women’s participation in the transitional period, a majority
of women feel that this has been neglected and fear, due to their mistrust of
traditional parties, that the disputing political parties will unite around
only one issue: excluding women.

The GCC initiative,
while highlighting the importance of women, only states that women should be
represented “appropriately” in the national unity government, and does not
dictate a 30 percent quota which was a demand agreed upon by the women’s
movement, and later articulated at a
national conference on women in March 2012 which was intended to
unite women’s demands for inclusion in the dialogue process.

Hence, appointing three female ministers was considered
“appropriate” representation for some, and even hailed as a success by others.
The important technical committee, set up by President Hadi to define the scope
of the upcoming National Dialogue, included individuals with high caliber and
street credibility, but women initially represented only 20 per cent. Then in September 2012, President Hadi
issued another decree adding six new
male members to the technical committee, which shifted the gender balance even
further and decreased the percentage of women to 16 percent.

National Dialogue Given these negative indicators,
women are naturally frustrated about their marginalization and worry about the
upcoming national dialogue. To alleviate some of these fears the technical committee
recently published a detailed document on the Rules
and procedures of the six-month National Dialogue conference which
emphasizes that women will be present in all committees.

On 28 November 2012 Jamal Benomar, the United Nations’
special advisor on Yemen said that an agreement has been reached to resolve the
allocation of seats for the national dialogue. According to media reports, 40 seats (representing 7 percent
of the 565 seats) are allocated for “women” but another media
reported that women will have 30 percent representation. That could mean that women will be included
in other groups such as political parties, youth etc.

The National Dialogue conference will be divided into 12
working groups based on different
topics with a minimum of 30 participants in each. Women’s rights are not one of these 12
points and were only specifically mentioned once under the topic: rights and
duties along with youth, children, the marginalized and others. This is because gender issues were placed in
the broader context of equal citizenship.
It will be up to individual participants to bring up the specific gender
issues in each group. This will mean
that the selection process, which remains vague, is of utmost importance in
order to make sure that these issues will be a top political priority, and
especially in the constitutional reform committee, which will be the basis for
protecting women’s rights for years to come.

The question that arises for women is who represents them in
this conference? Being a woman should
not be the only criteria for representing women, as not all women would
prioritize women’s issues. The lack of
clarity over the criteria for participation means that women are unable to
prepare ahead of time and to select candidates. Will they be selected from the women’s movement? Based on
geographic or political affiliations? If so, what will happen to the
independent women? And how would one deal with multiple identities? For example, would a woman from Aden who is
a member of the Islah or Socialist party be chosen to represent women, her
party, or the South? All these
questions remain a challenge for women today.

Other challenges include the fact that Yemeni women continue
to face threats, slander, and harassments by religious or political forces in
attempts to silence them. The lack of independent media means that groups in
conflict use media to settle their disputes, and independent activists, men and
women are caught in between. Just as
slander was a method used by the former regime to prevent women from
protesting, today, media smear campaigns and slander have been used against
independent female and male activists in an attempt to tarnish their
reputation. Imams resorted to the use of takfir calling the novelist and
activist Boushra al-Maktary, an infidel after an article she published, making her fear, as she told journalist
Judith Spiegel, that “Killing
me is a ticket to heaven.”

What we know is that without the real inclusion of women,
the process for change is doomed to fail.
As Dr. Sheila Carapico said at the Yemen in Transition
conference “no matter how marvelous a social movement is, it does not mean the
outcome is social justice or a democracy.” Nevertheless, despite the obstacles ahead, one must not lose
hope. The revolution gave women a voice,
boosted their self-confidence and made them believe that the impossible is
possible. “Something historic and remarkable has happened that is socially and
culturally important and should be recognized as such” added Dr. Carapico.